Middle schools getting a makeover

Monday

Jul 26, 2010 at 12:01 AMJul 26, 2010 at 1:12 PM

The district vows to make 18 schools that house grades 6-8 live up to their names this time, three decades after the district first converted all of its junior highs to middle schools. Here's what will change:

• Middle-schoolers won't be changing classes every 52 minutes each day. Instead, teachers will work together to divvy up 260 minutes of instruction time based on students' needs.

• Students will be divided into small "houses" at their grade level. Two to four teachers will work exclusively with each house.

• Every incoming sixth-grader will get a student mentor who has been trained how to help.

Columbus' middle schools have been living a lie.

But before the school year starts, they're coming clean: They've actually been junior high schools.

They've been treating students like miniature high-schoolers even though these kids are just reaching puberty.

The forgotten goal of middle schools was to give adolescent students what research says they need to succeed: more freedom than they had in elementary school, but with enough guidance to support them through some of the toughest years of their lives.

The district vows to make 18 schools that house grades 6-8 live up to their names this time, three decades after the district first converted all of its junior highs to middle schools.

"They're middle schools in name only," said Santo Pino, who works with the National Middle School Association and is helping Columbus revamp its middle-grades schools.

Students and parents will see for themselves that Columbus City Schools' middle-grades buildings are the real deal now, said Suzy Rhett, who oversees curriculum, leadership and development for the district.

Here's what will change:

• Middle-schoolers won't be changing classes every 52 minutes each day. Instead, teachers will work together to divvy up 260 minutes of instruction time based on students' needs.

• Students will be divided into small "houses" at their grade level. Two to four teachers will work exclusively with each house.

• Every incoming sixth-grader will get a student mentor who has been trained how to help.

"We're going to get to know our students, their families, what makes them tick, what they need and what assets they bring to the table," Rhett said. "In classrooms, teachers are going to see more flexibility and less of a one-size-fits-all approach."

All middle-schoolers used to take electives that rotated each semester. Now, sixth-graders will have more opportunities to explore options because they will switch arts, music and P.E. courses twice each semester. Seventh-graders will try an elective per semester, and eighth-grade students will take year-long electives for high-school credit. Reading will be infused into every subject to strengthen students' skills. There won't be study halls.

Last November, the superintendent began a campaign to fix middle schools, saying it was time to face the "brutal facts" about their dismal academic performance. More than two-thirds of the middle schools are rated D or F.

The new plan is based, in part, on a survey the district conducted in the fall to identify the middle schools' problems and gather ideas for how to solve them.

If parents think they've heard this plan to revamp schools before, they probably have. A similar pitch was made in 1980, when Columbus became the first urban district in the state to convert its junior highs.

Early results showed discipline improved after the switch, but teachers complained within three years that the district wasn't staying true to the concept.

In the past decade, the schools returned to an eight-period day.

That schedule isn't best for early adolescents, Pino said.

Going through puberty is tough, he said, and they need stronger relationships with adults, more support and opportunities to explore new subjects before they get to high school.

The district has "generally had problems with the details and following through, and it ends up being the same thing we've been doing," said Rhonda Johnson, president of the Columbus Education Association. But teachers are enthusiastic about being part of the plan to remake the schools because the district seems committed, she said.

"It's what middle schools were supposed to be back when they came into being."

jsmithrichards@dispatch.com

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.